Atheist Nexus2016-12-09T18:16:16ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblonhttp://api.ning.com/files/RnJTzRt-3U*QDnOcWCUE3jTwDFZE9nbCig2tmOhuUOKIeS5-dC0V-cCUclXSaxtJ*ar5sfFZ74JKYilItnm*s23e8j6IWUy5sYSyEf8ygEk_/Zeb5.png?width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://atheistnexus.org/forum/topic/listForContributor?user=3q95ele0syfqj&feed=yes&xn_auth=noWESTWORLD AND FREE WILLtag:atheistnexus.org,2016-12-08:2182797:Topic:27230202016-12-08T14:03:51.216ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p> The HBO series Westworld has just concluded the first season and I found the series fascinating. The premise is that people pay lots of money to vacation in a realistic old west setting complete with people from the era and authentic towns and scenery. The people who populate these towns are totally synthetic and robotic. They are called "hosts" and they are programmed with a script. The goings on in this series vary often but the script always wins out. Without going into the series very…</p>
<p> The HBO series Westworld has just concluded the first season and I found the series fascinating. The premise is that people pay lots of money to vacation in a realistic old west setting complete with people from the era and authentic towns and scenery. The people who populate these towns are totally synthetic and robotic. They are called "hosts" and they are programmed with a script. The goings on in this series vary often but the script always wins out. Without going into the series very much, let it just be said that some of the hosts are "waking up." They remember their scripts and are troubled by them.</p>
<p> The creator of some of these hosts wanted them to develop consciousness just like a human being. We find many main characters becoming aware of this slowly and wanting to escape Westworld. One such person named Maeve almost did escape, but at last minute she had to return to save her child. It was a part of her script that she could not get away from.</p>
<p> I thought the writers should be commended. The series points out that nobody has free will and uses robotic beings to make that point. We do basically what we are programmed to do even though there is some variations.</p>
<p> In the Bible Adam and Eve are created with free will. This fact is made very plain by God's instructions to them about the forbidden fruit, yet the story is allegorical and a "set up." God also put the tree in the garden and once these two have wanted knowledge and tasted of the fruit their free will has went out the window. Simply because of exercising their free will both Adam and Eve lost it. Free will is then forever limited by whatever script God throws in. Every act is now some variance of scripts, known and unknown. All people are different but possible individual outcomes of any situation change slightly but are predictable by behavioral scientists.</p>
<p> Our choices are limited by our parents and our genes, education levels, environment, etc. to the point that we have that illusion of total free will. This is not the case however. It only defines the script that we are trapped in even if there are variations of how that might play out. It's almost like answering a multiple choice question with only a few answers available. The roots of why this is so go way back in time.</p>
<p> The religious still think that God gave you free will so that you might be "saved" and counted as one of his. They do not see that what the story says is that free will is forever lost once you make a choice on anything. The script changes from that very first choice.</p>
<p> Any comments?</p> Post-Truth UStag:atheistnexus.org,2016-12-07:2182797:Topic:27226832016-12-07T19:26:03.204ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/to-family-friends-and-peers-who-voted-for-trump_us_582e6b1fe4b08c963e343d23" target="_blank">Post-Truth Nation</a></p>
<p>Samuel Spitale's assessment of the US is 100% on target.</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/582eb26b1a00002300cc895d.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/582eb26b1a00002300cc895d.jpg?width=300" width="300"></img></a> ... the election of Donald Trump. To put it simply, the only ones celebrating his victory are the…</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/to-family-friends-and-peers-who-voted-for-trump_us_582e6b1fe4b08c963e343d23" target="_blank">Post-Truth Nation</a></p>
<p>Samuel Spitale's assessment of the US is 100% on target.</p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/582eb26b1a00002300cc895d.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/582eb26b1a00002300cc895d.jpg?width=300" class="align-center" width="300"/></a>... the election of Donald Trump. To put it simply, the only ones celebrating his victory are the <a href="http://abc7.com/news/large-kkk-group-plans-to-celebrate-trump-election-with-parade/1602389/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">KKK</a>, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/russia-celebrates-trump-nears-election-day-victory-article-1.2865220" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Russia</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/11/09/islamist-extremists-celebrate-trumps-election-win/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ISIS</a>, and American conservatives.</p>
<p>This fact alone should disturb anyone who voted for him, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/world/americas/western-liberal-democracy.html?smid=fb-share&amp;mtrref=www.facebook.com&amp;gwh=1AE78B95CB71C54B6B3A0FDFFE221EA0&amp;gwt=pay&amp;_r=0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">but the magnitude of this election</a>, and its inevitable repercussions, <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2015/03/10/fran-lebowitz-capitalism-triumphed-communism-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">are not registering with the populace</a>.</p>
<p>Make no mistake, <a href="http://billmoyers.com/story/farewell-america/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">the Trump presidency is a national tragedy</a>.</p>
<p>Trump’s election to the presidency is tragic because it marks a turning point in world politics. November 8, 2016 is the day that proved Americans could no longer differentiate between fact and fiction.</p>
<p>We are living in a “<a href="http://fusion.net/story/318668/this-one-paragraph-perfectly-sums-up-what-the-brexit-vote-says-about-modern-politics/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">post-truth</a>” nation.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.tes.com/sites/default/files/styles/news_article_hero/public/news_article_images/trump_3_0.jpg?itok=Y7nOv9L0" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.tes.com/sites/default/files/styles/news_article_hero/public/news_article_images/trump_3_0.jpg?itok=Y7nOv9L0&amp;width=450" class="align-center" width="450"/></a><a href="https://www.tes.com/us/news/breaking-views/teachers-need-challenge-lies-and-conspiracy-theories-peddled-our-post" target="_blank">image source</a></p>
<blockquote><p>This is not a disagreement about policy or <a href="http://www.samuelcspitale.com/#%21GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-15-The-Psychology-of-Ideology/c1sbz/2015/12/23/GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-15-The-Psychology-of-Ideology" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ideology</a>. It is much more complex than being on a certain side of an issue.</p>
<p><strong>It’s about the ability to differentiate news from noise.</strong></p>
<p>... <strong><a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/134667/conservatives-groomed-perfect-suckers-trumps-epic-scam" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">if you voted for Trump</a>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/06/30/donald_trump_is_the_inevitable_result_of_decades_of_gop_denial_of_reality.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">you have been manipulated by the same power structure you thought you were overturning</a>.</strong></p>
<p>One of the oldest political tricks is to undermine the messenger, especially when you can’t disagree with the message. Republican strategists have perfected this, and <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/opinion/article/Rove-s-dirty-tricks-Let-us-count-the-ways-1246665.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Karl Rove has made a career out of it.</a></p>
<p>Instead of battling the Clintons on issues, Gingrich led Congressional Republicans to play dirty and tarnish their reputations instead.</p>
<p>The truth is that <a href="http://m.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/08/hillary-clinton-one-americas-most-honest-politicians" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Clinton is one of the most honest politicians in America</a>, regardless of popular opinion.</p>
<p>By comparison, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/05/15/donald_trump_is_a_serial_liar_more_upsetting_is_that_no_one_seems_to_care_partner/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Donald Trump lies more than he tells the truth</a>, regardless of whatever image he sells.</p>
<p><a href="http://billmoyers.com/story/donald-trump-and-the-walter-winchell-effect/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">But that hypocrisy doesn’t register with the average voter.</a></p>
<p>consider the Clinton email scandal. <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/george-w-bush-white-house-lost-22-million-emails-497373.html?rx=us" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Newsweek</a>:</p>
Clinton’s email habits look positively transparent when compared with the subpoena-dodging, email-hiding, private-server-using George W. Bush administration. Between 2003 and 2009, the Bush White House “lost” 22 million emails.<br/>
<p>By comparison, Clinton lost 33,000 emails, most of which were private. She was exonerated by the investigation, but the myth of her corruption prevails.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://images.kashmirobserver.in/assets/container/styles/large/public/media/article-images/2016/47/truth.jpg?itok=GPzXaSEP" target="_blank"><img src="https://images.kashmirobserver.in/assets/container/styles/large/public/media/article-images/2016/47/truth.jpg?itok=GPzXaSEP&amp;width=450" class="align-center" width="450"/></a><a href="https://kashmirobserver.net/2016/opinions/post-truth-world-12219" target="_blank">image source</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Several conservative attack dogs have renounced their own party to expose such deceit, like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Republican-Noise-Machine-Right-Wing-Democracy/dp/B000FVQV16" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">David Brock</a>, who founded the media watchdog group <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Media Matters</a>, and former Congressman <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Party-Over-Republicans-Democrats-Useless/dp/0143124218/ref=pd_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0143124218&amp;pd_rd_r=JBW1CXCDAHJNMXHXB8S3&amp;pd_rd_w=uf7S9&amp;pd_rd_wg=v5HnX&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=JBW1CXCDAHJNMXHXB8S3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Mike Lofgren</a>.</p>
<p>The idea that Hillary is crooked – or at least more so than other politicians – is a myth repeated so many times, it clearly no longer matters if it’s true.</p>
<p>This effect is known as the “<a href="http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/12/the-illusion-of-truth.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">illusion of truth</a>” – when you hear certain information so many times, you believe it, regardless of its accuracy. Political lies stay with us not because of their authenticity, but because manipulative campaign strategists understand psychology.</p>
<p><strong>For instance, if you believe Democrats tax and spend more, then congratulations –</strong> <strong>you’ve been manipulated</strong>.</p>
<p>This is little more than another campaign strategy used to mislead voters.</p>
<p>Consider the reality: <a href="http://www.scottporad.com/2012/06/25/debunking-myths-democrats-are-tax-and-spend-liberals/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Almost every Democrat since World War II has decreased the debt, whereas all the Republicans since Richard Nixon have increased the debt.</a></p>
<p><strong>Furthermore, if you think Democrats increase the size of government, while Republicans reduce it, then congratulations – you’ve been manipulated yet again</strong>.</p>
<p>The reality is that Reagan and Bush Jr. are the worst offenders and increased both spending and size of government the most. <a href="http://www.samuelcspitale.com/#%21GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-10-Tear-Down-this-Myth/c1sbz/2015/12/16/GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-10-Tear-Down-this-Myth" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The notion that Reagan cut the size of government was propaganda used to mislead the nation – and it worked</a>. <a href="https://mises.org/library/sad-legacy-ronald-reagan-0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The singular reason we have so much debt today is because of Reagan</a>. And then because of Bush’s wars fought on credit.</p>
<p>Demagogues like Donald Trump have helped focus resentment, fear, uncertainty and <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/05/29/donald_trump_exposes_the_gops_dirty_secret_they_build_everything_by_nurturing_white_rage/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">anger by blaming the poor and immigrants</a>, who are in no way responsible for any of our predicaments. Instead of focusing anger at the REAL culprits - <a href="http://www.samuelcspitale.com/#%21GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-9-TrickleDown-Voodoo-Reaganomics-Or-BS-by-Any-Other-Name/c1sbz/2015/12/15/GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-9-TrickleDown-Voodoo-Reaganomics-Or-BS-by-Any-Other-Name" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">the business class, Republicans, Wall Street, the 1 percent</a> - Trump chose to demonize the most helpless members of society.</p>
<p>And we rewarded his behavior with the presidency.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/world/trump-global-reaction.html?smid=fb-share" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">This is why other countries are freaking out</a>. <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/7/18/12210500/diagnosed-dysfunction-republican-party" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">To them, we have just elected the very people who have screwed us over.</a></p>
<p>Why do we continue to trust Republicans to steer the economy when Republican presidents and governors <a href="http://www.samuelcspitale.com/single-post/2016/06/14/GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-3-Increasing-Poverty-Declining-Health" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">leave us in worse shape?</a></p>
<p>Because in this day and age, <span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong><span class="font-size-3">we can no longer differentiate between fact and fiction</span></strong></span>. [orange emphasis mine]</p>
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<p><a href="https://mindyourbrain1.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/fotolia_100983715_s.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://mindyourbrain1.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/fotolia_100983715_s.jpg?width=450" class="align-center" width="450"/></a><a href="https://mind-your-brain.net/2016/08/22/fact-or-fiction/" target="_blank">image source</a></p>
<blockquote><p><strong>It is because of the lies and distortions that liberals and conservatives can no longer reach common ground, as only one group is grounded in reality.</strong></p>
<p>In 2002, Karl Rove dismissed journalists as being part of the “reality-based community.” He explained:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/us-karl-rove-iraq-crisis" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">“That’s not the way the world works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”</a></p>
<p>Rove would know, as he’s spent the majority of his life constructing false narratives and selling them to the public like an ad agency shills laundry detergent. His words go a long way to explaining why so many Americans are so misinformed – <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/134667/conservatives-groomed-perfect-suckers-trumps-epic-scam" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">because that’s exactly how conservatives want it</a><em>.</em></p>
<p><em>This is why Big Business and <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1987-06-21/news/mn-8908_1_fairness-doctrine" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Republicans</a> dismantled <a href="http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1880786,00.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Fairness Doctrine, which required news outlets to show equal sides of an argument</a>. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lv-HcSVoaJgC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=man+who+sold+the+world&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwinqe76sbHQAhVCrVQKHW-dBXIQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&amp;q=man%20who%20sold%20the%20world&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Conservatives targeted this legislation because they wanted to fight facts they didn’t like.</a></em></p>
<p>Nixon’s war propagandists began blaming the messenger, i.e., the “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-Liberal-Media-Truth-About/dp/0465001769/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480135123&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=what+liberal+media" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">liberal media</a>”. (Remember, when you cannot counter a message or refute the evidence, you must attack the messenger - hence the use of the terms, “liberal elites,” “<a href="http://www.alternet.org/media/15-things-americans-would-know-if-there-were-liberal-media" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">liberal media</a>”, “gotcha questions,” etc.) <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2LPDv6olcJkC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=roger+ailes&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwi0yq6Ms7HQAhWEwVQKHRVbA44Q6AEILzAD#v=onepage&amp;q=roger%20ailes&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Nixon’s chief propagandist was Roger Ailes, who was responsible for blurring the lines between news and propaganda in regards to the Vietnam War.</a> <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=MUeI-kpV3g8C&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=roger+ailes&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwi0yq6Ms7HQAhWEwVQKHRVbA44Q6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&amp;q=roger%20ailes&amp;f=false" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">This is why he was hired to run Fox News.</a> Reality has been debatable ever since, as outlets like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fox-Effect-Network-Propaganda-Machine/dp/0307279588/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480058589&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=fox+effect" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Fox News turn smearing the opposition into a full-time job</a>.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2015/03/10/fran-lebowitz-capitalism-triumphed-communism-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">capitalist culture</a>, information should not be a commodity. Truth should not be a brand. Disinformation should not be a product.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.samuelcspitale.com/#%21GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-15-The-Psychology-of-Ideology/c1sbz/2015/12/23/GOODBYE-MIDDLE-CLASS-Part-15-The-Psychology-of-Ideology" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">This is not a debate between two ideologies</a><strong>. This is a showdown between myth and reality. And last week, reality lost.</strong></p>
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<p><strong><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/I-AtEFIik0UuNe93ToZp2A6W5Svb3t7BabRXzdIjw3hMVqC1PxYBlq0BNrPgkaHipI77h3JUOsVUDRq96DiaMwAdgwrq6Qr7/eyeeh.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/I-AtEFIik0UuNe93ToZp2A6W5Svb3t7BabRXzdIjw3hMVqC1PxYBlq0BNrPgkaHipI77h3JUOsVUDRq96DiaMwAdgwrq6Qr7/eyeeh.jpg" class="align-center" width="405"/></a></strong></p>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://billmoyers.com/story/farewell-america/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">If you are not terrified for our country’s future</a>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/08/the_week_democracy_died_how_brexit_nice_turkey_and_trump_are_all_connected.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">then you are not well enough informed to even be part of the conversation</a>. <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trumps-presidency-could-literally-mean-the-end-of-their-world/?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=socialflow" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">And by the time everyone grasps the magnitude of our disaster, it will be too late.</a></p>
<p>Trump has taken <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Outrage-Industry-Political-Incivility-Development/dp/0190498463/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480135269&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=outrage+industry" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Rush Limbaugh’s outrage</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fox-Effect-Network-Propaganda-Machine/dp/0307279588/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480058589&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=fox+effect" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Fox News’ fabrications</a> and manipulated the American people into voting into office the very people responsible for their economic decline.</p>
<p><strong>The greatest problem of our future is not political; it is not economic; it is not even rational. It’s the battle of fact versus fiction.</strong></p>
<p>Sadly, a Trump victory illustrates that we are no longer able to distinguish between the two.</p>
</blockquote> Electronic Citizen Managementtag:atheistnexus.org,2016-12-06:2182797:Topic:27225712016-12-06T23:43:00.573ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p><a href="https://futurism.com/chinas-new-social-credit-score-brings-dystopian-science-fiction-to-life/" target="_blank">China’s New “Social Credit Score” Brings Dystopian Science Fiction to Life</a></p>
<div class="usertext-body may-blank-within md-container"><div class="md"><blockquote><p>If China successfully consolidates data from around 1.4 billion people into one system, then it’s more than likely that this social credit system will be put in place. Once it does, it’s going to be like…</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<p><a href="https://futurism.com/chinas-new-social-credit-score-brings-dystopian-science-fiction-to-life/" target="_blank">China’s New “Social Credit Score” Brings Dystopian Science Fiction to Life</a></p>
<div class="usertext-body may-blank-within md-container"><div class="md"><blockquote><p>If China successfully consolidates data from around 1.4 billion people into one system, then it’s more than likely that this social credit system will be put in place. Once it does, it’s going to be like an episode from Black Mirror — the social credit score of citizens will be the basis for access to services ranging from travel and education to loans and insurance coverage.</p>
<p>For a nation that has a more-or-less openly totalitarian approach to governance, a move to install a Big Brother social credit system shouldn’t be surprising. Proponents of the idea <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-plan-to-organize-its-whole-society-around-big-data-a-rating-for-everyone/2016/10/20/1cd0dd9c-9516-11e6-ae9d-0030ac1899cd_story.html?utm_term=.21d3eeecc737" target="_blank">are already testing various aspects of the system</a> — gathering digital records of citizens, specifically financial behavior.</p>
<p>... the government assures that the system would “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step,”...</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/blackmirror_ep3_nosedive_0101r.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/blackmirror_ep3_nosedive_0101r.jpg?width=400" class="align-center" width="400"/></a></p>
<p>This would be perfect for Trump to implement his ever-growing enemies list. He's </p>
<p>probably salivating to try it in the US.</p>
</div>
</div> Theology should never influence law.tag:atheistnexus.org,2016-12-03:2182797:Topic:27223202016-12-03T22:48:02.308ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<div>Theology should never influence law. <br></br><br></br>In a shocking judgement handed down by a family court in west London last year, but only just published now, a judge has denounced a father simply for exposing his children to basic information about the theory of evolution. The judgment, which concerns a family from the strictly Orthodox Charedi Jewish community, follows on from a dispute between a now separated husband and wife over the custody and schooling of their children. After the…</div>
<div>Theology should never influence law. <br/><br/>In a shocking judgement handed down by a family court in west London last year, but only just published now, a judge has denounced a father simply for exposing his children to basic information about the theory of evolution. The judgment, which concerns a family from the strictly Orthodox Charedi Jewish community, follows on from a dispute between a now separated husband and wife over the custody and schooling of their children. After the mother had alleged that...</div>
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<tbody><tr><td><a href="https://humanism.org.uk/2016/12/03/judge-criticises-jewish-father-for-crime-of-telling-his-children-about-evolution/" target="_blank">Judge criticises Jewish father for crime of telling his children about evolution</a></td>
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<tr><td>In a shocking judgement handed down by a family court in west London last year, but only just published now, a judge has denounced a father simply ...</td>
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</div> The Minion Principal, a Compelled argument for atheismtag:atheistnexus.org,2016-12-01:2182797:Topic:27210982016-12-01T01:58:29.264ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p>Minion food drive</p>
<p> Imagine a handful of Christians that notice hunger in their community. They decide to pray about it at 10:00 am Saturday. They tell a few friends maybe Facebook it etc. Saturday comes they gather at their church and pray. Maybe some people have prior plans but wish to help, others may have misunderstood this to be a food drive. By 10:15 am he prayer is interrupted because so many people have brought food to the church. Everyone praises god an gives Her the…</p>
<p>Minion food drive</p>
<p> Imagine a handful of Christians that notice hunger in their community. They decide to pray about it at 10:00 am Saturday. They tell a few friends maybe Facebook it etc. Saturday comes they gather at their church and pray. Maybe some people have prior plans but wish to help, others may have misunderstood this to be a food drive. By 10:15 am he prayer is interrupted because so many people have brought food to the church. Everyone praises god an gives Her the credit.(OK so I'm feeling a little rebellious and a little God reverse-sexism appeals to me. She will be a girl hence forth)</p>
<p> The goodness of the people is simply disregarded. They were Compelled by the Goddess. This is super secret Christian ninja talk for "the Goddess made them". Did She? There is no evidence here that the Goddess did anything. No manna from heaven, no water into wine, no magical multiplying fish or bread. Everything can be directly attributed to her minions. Nothing that was done cannot be attributed to her minions. False Goddesses need minions!</p>
<p> The Goddesses army</p>
<p>The Goddess can do anything. Destroy cities, cause floods, hurricanes, earthquake's, and my favorite make your bowels explode(Judas Iscariot). The Goddess could strike everyone that pissess her off with lightning. All at once. Impressive. But instead she needs minions. Let's say the great army of Methodist(I will pick on them as I used to be one) kills every living non-Methodist on the planet.</p>
<p>Does it help the Goddess? No. She is according to apologist She is outside the realm of space and time. Nothing we can do will help or hurt Her. Perhaps She will be pleased by the victory. No She can't. She knows the future and therefore would not be surprised by what SHE did. She is unchanging and therefore could not be anymore pleased or displeased by the victory than if I just farted. It simply would not affect her in any way. Who would it affect? The minions, who knows how many would be killed or maimed. But that's OK cus it was the Goddesses will. False Goddesses need minions.</p>
<p> A product of my design</p>
<p>Let's say there is a REAL Goddess. She designed me. I had no say in my DNA. I did not choose my parents or even to be born. I cannot control how my brain works. I have no power over how my brain functions to produce thoughts or make decisions. I can only try to focus or disregard the thoughts that do come to me. I am a product of my design, HER design.</p>
<p>I am an atheist. I am compelledunbeliever not because I chose not to believe but because I could not believe due to my design. She knows this, she designed me to be this way. So now I have two options. To believe the Goddess does not exist(my favorite) or that She does not care to make herself known to me. If She does not exist I'm good to go. If She does exist and chooses not to make Herself known to me I am blameless, it's Her fault or will if you wish. She being all knowing would know exactly what it would take for me to believe. I used to pray for Her to make me have unfailing belief and perfect faith(you can see how that worked out for me). If I don't believe, I am a product of Her design actually doing HER WILL.</p>
<p>I wanted to worship the one true Goddess. There are thousands of religions out there and really if any are right only one can be right. All minions of these religions say they are right, therefore I can't take any minions word for it. Eternal Heaven or Hell is just too high of stake's to put in it. I must know from the Goddess Herself, and She created me and knows this. If I am an atheist I am actually doing Her will.(this is my brief answer to Pascal's wager)</p>
<p> Minion witnessing</p>
<p> So let's say some good intentioned fellow believes his Goddess wants him to tell me about his awesome Goddess. As soon as he begins to tell me about Her I can dismiss Her out of hand. Why? She doesn't know about the Minion Principal. False Goddesses need minions because they are not real. A real Goddess could MAKE me believe or know exactly how to encourage me to believe. She would know I would never take the word of a mere minion. This stuff is too important. A real Goddess would no send a minion because She would know that that would be a sure fire way for me to dismiss her divinity! She actually designed me to think this way! False Goddesses need minions!</p>
<p>So what do you think about this philosophy?</p> Getting Honest Newstag:atheistnexus.org,2016-11-30:2182797:Topic:27210832016-11-30T21:32:14.734ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p></p>
<p>Do you have a favorite news website?, or a preferred website that tells things like it is?</p>
<p>Yahoo News is terrible and I refuse to check Fox News and others. So many are based on sensationalism and yellow journalism. In fact, journalism is probably an endangered profession.</p>
<p>If the crowd out there can list their preferred honest news sources (is it possible that some are still unbiased?) then we can know whats going on.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p></p>
<p>Do you have a favorite news website?, or a preferred website that tells things like it is?</p>
<p>Yahoo News is terrible and I refuse to check Fox News and others. So many are based on sensationalism and yellow journalism. In fact, journalism is probably an endangered profession.</p>
<p>If the crowd out there can list their preferred honest news sources (is it possible that some are still unbiased?) then we can know whats going on.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p> Identity Politicstag:atheistnexus.org,2016-11-30:2182797:Topic:27211482016-11-30T03:41:31.032ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p>What is identity politics?</p>
<p>What is identity politics?</p> Fake Newstag:atheistnexus.org,2016-11-29:2182797:Topic:27211252016-11-29T12:47:10.725ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p>Got a featured letter in today's Toronto Star. Wrote it in reaction to an article about fake news <strong>Re: Two guys with laptops make gigabucks creating fake news, Nov. 22</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2016/11/28/rampaging-memes-and-overactive-amygdalae.html" target="_blank">Rampaging memes and overactive amygdalae</a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Got a featured letter in today's Toronto Star. Wrote it in reaction to an article about fake news <strong>Re: Two guys with laptops make gigabucks creating fake news, Nov. 22</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2016/11/28/rampaging-memes-and-overactive-amygdalae.html" target="_blank">Rampaging memes and overactive amygdalae</a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p> Could Trump be emboldening Atheist activism and helping to normalize the word Atheist? Exhibit Atag:atheistnexus.org,2016-11-29:2182797:Topic:27210492016-11-29T00:42:58.574ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before. Rahm Emmanuel</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> I know that Trump can choose supreme Court justices that may have a serious impact on our future. I am exceeding surprised by the extremist Christians he has chosen to his staff and department heads. It will be an uphill battle, and…</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before. Rahm Emmanuel</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> I know that Trump can choose supreme Court justices that may have a serious impact on our future. I am exceeding surprised by the extremist Christians he has chosen to his staff and department heads. It will be an uphill battle, and we can get more out of it than it appears at first glance. If Hillary we elected it would be much easier for us as atheist in the short run but perhaps Trump could be even greater for our future despite himself.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> Dave Silverman stresses that we us the word Atheist and do everything we can to normalize it much like the lbgt community has done. With Trump in office we will unfortunately have to fight all his evangelical buddies legislative initiatives. This truly sucks. Eventually we will win the court battles for the most part but more importantly we will be pushed out of complacency and into action. The media will be the key. Every time some hair brained theist idea is pushed to become law WE will be there responding. We will have ten fold or more exposure to the masses that we would have if Hillary was elected.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> Remember when it comes to humanist ideas, we are always right. That is, <strong>all</strong> theist will not agree with us <strong>all</strong> the time but <strong>most</strong> theist will agree with humanist ideas <strong>most</strong> of the time. We as humanist are always in the majority. This will allow us much more exposure as atheist than we could have otherwise enjoyed. It will give us the opportunity to show we are compassionate, and care about human rights and freedom not only of, but from religion.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> Statistics show that we have the momentum. That is, atheist are growing at a faster rate than any religion.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Oh, exhibit A. I joined a local meet up in Colorado Springs, Colorado......Colorado Springs Free Thinkers</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> Any way, they have decided to have a special meeting to deal with Trump. The email read in part:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> Unite Colorado Springs to resist oppression.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">With religious extremist setting up the new presidential staff, Freethinkers will be taking a spot next to the Mexicans and Muslims in the cross hairs of the right wing.(again we are part of the majority. My addition) perhaps it would be wise to join together with some of these groups........(what a great opportunity to show that atheist are good people who care about our nation. My addition)</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.meetup.com/FreethinkersCS/events/235520274/?rv=me1">https://www.meetup.com/FreethinkersCS/events/235520274/?rv=me1</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I hope my link works but it is really immaterial. My point is, though times may be rough Trump may provide an opportunity to promote atheist ideas as never before!</p> My response to Trumptag:atheistnexus.org,2016-11-28:2182797:Topic:27209592016-11-28T07:08:23.600ZZebbihttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Zeblon
<p><span>My response to Trump</span></p>
<p><span>Sunday, November 27, 2016</span></p>
<ol>
<li><span>Treat every word as a statement of Trump’s values. Listen carefully to what he says. Recognize what is propaganda and what is true. Take his statements as true to his corrupt mindset. Assume what he says is what he means. </span></li>
<li><span>The issue is survival, not analysis. Listening to Trump’s threats, promises, accusations, blaming, criticizing, belittling, bullying, ultimatums,…</span></li>
</ol>
<p><span>My response to Trump</span></p>
<p><span>Sunday, November 27, 2016</span></p>
<ol>
<li><span>Treat every word as a statement of Trump’s values. Listen carefully to what he says. Recognize what is propaganda and what is true. Take his statements as true to his corrupt mindset. Assume what he says is what he means. </span></li>
<li><span>The issue is survival, not analysis. Listening to Trump’s threats, promises, accusations, blaming, criticizing, belittling, bullying, ultimatums, commitments, charges, claims, condemnations, attacks, disparaging demands, pledges, storms, declarations, and tirades, I recognize a sophomoric child in an adult body. His world comes from incoherent rage and vile visions of which I find wanting. What matters now is survival. </span></li>
<li><span>I have not heard such nonsense since the death of despotic rulers of the 1940s. Trump isn’t the kind of person I want to lead me and my country. I refuse to submit to his tyranny or yield to his demands. Trump is morally corrupt. He wants the U.S.A. to be as corrupt as he. I will have none of it. </span></li>
</ol>
<p><span>Our greatness is in our ability to respond to the needs of people, water, soils, air, and the environment. Trump is emotionally incapable of maturity. He knows only power over, never power with. When Trump takes over the institutions of power, I stand with those who are most vulnerable, and I will not give up until I have reason to believe that the mourning period is over and I can stand, shoulder to shoulder with my fellow U.S. citizens and reclaim our Republic.</span></p>